The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Emma follows Regina outside the diner and is forced to own up to some of the mistakes she's been making. Regina is just tired of feeling lonely.


This was a prompt submitted to me by an anonymous user on Tumblr from an angst sentence starter meme I reblogged:

"Congratulations, you really made a fool out of me. For a second there, I really thought we were friends."

A remix of the Swan Queen scene in "The Cricket Game".

* * *

Emma followed Regina out of the diner, a frown on her face. She hadn't expected her to leave like that. Sure, she hadn't spent too much time focused on Regina. She had meant to check up on her, but she kept getting pulled away by some person or another. Regina had been fine last she checked, talking with Henry. Suddenly, she had just walked out without a word to anyone.

"Archie made a cake. You don't want to stay for a piece?"

Regina turned around, a polite smile on her face. "I'm fine, thank you."

Emma looked at her, uncertain. Regina certainly didn't seem fine, but then again, she didn't know her all that well. "Okay…" She turned to head back inside when she heard Regina's voice again.

"Thank you."

"You just said that."

"F-for inviting me."

Emma smiled a little, though it was more out of surprise than anything. She wasn't sure Regina had ever been this cordial with her, it was almost a little scary. "Henry wanted it," she finally said. "I'm glad you guys got to spend some time together."

The mention of the son they shared seemed to brighten up Regina's face. A pang of guilt filled Emma's heart. She should've never doubted Regina's love for Henry. The truth was, she had believed her back when she said that she had. She was just scared that maybe one time her lie detector wouldn't work, it had happened before. Henry was her son, she had to be extra sure with him. She wasn't sure she was doing the right thing, trying to be the one to raise him. It was what Henry wanted, but was it best? She was still trying to figure all of it out. She hadn't been a mother in the past 11 years.

"Me, too. I'd like to see him more. Maybe you'd consider letting him stay over some time. I… I have his room just… Just waiting for him," Regina's eyes were filled with hope. She had barely gotten to spend any time with her son since the curse broke.

Emma paused, she hadn't been expecting that. A part of her wanted to say yes. She knew deep down that she had no legal say over Henry. At any moment, Regina could force him to come home. She just didn't want to do that, she wanted him to come back when he was ready. Emma wanted to trust Regina, she wanted to think that she could be good with Henry. She also had to try to do the right thing.

Yet the next words out of her mouth were the exact wrong ones. "Oh…I'm…I'm not sure that's best."

Something seemed to snap inside Regina. The kind smile left her face and the hope drained her eyes. "You don't trust me with him."

"Regina…"

"What was the purpose in all this?" Regina asked, gesturing her hands around. "Inviting me?"

"I told you, Henry…"

"Henry wanted me to come, because I'm his mother." The sharpness had returned to her voice, one Emma knew all too well. "Clearly, you thought it was "best" for me to come or else you wouldn't have invited me."

Emma bit her lip. "Look, I was just trying to do what's right…"

Regina shook her head, swallowing the lump that came in her throat. "Congratulations, you really made a fool out of me. For a second there, I really thought we were friends."

Emma's mouth dropped open and that's when she saw it, the look in Regina's eyes. Yes, the hope was gone, but anger wasn't there. It was a mask, one Emma had put on many times when she was hurt. She had hurt Regina. That really hadn't been her intention.

"Regina, I…"

"I assumed since you invited me that you wanted to start something," Regina's voice didn't waver and she stood firm in her spot. "As co-parents."

"Co-parents?"

"You said awhile back that the days of me being Henry's only mother were long behind us. You were right, but there's something you have to keep in mind. I am still his mother."

"I'm just trying to protect him. I don't…I don't want to hurt you by doing that, we just have to do what's best for him."

"What's best for him is to have both of us in his life. You can't shut me out."

Emma stared at her for a minute, not sure what to say. All this time she had been trying to do what was best for Henry, when really, she had been doing what was best for her. She had fought like hell for him, but so had Regina. She loved him, she had raised him for 10 years. She couldn't erase that and she didn't want to.

Regina was right, she hadn't just invited her for Henry. She was starting to trust her again. Archie said she was doing better, that she was trying to not use her magic. Regina had helped her and Mary Margaret return from the Enchanted Forest. She trusted her.

Maybe it was time they stopped the fighting. It wasn't good for Henry and it wasn't good for them.

"I'm sorry," Emma said, finally. "Archie said you were trying to change and…you are."

A little bit of the hurt left Regina's features. "Dr. Hopper said I was trying?"

Emma nodded. "I don't think I've handled this in the best way. You're right, I don't know what I'm doing, you have 10 years of experience. Maybe friends…friends would be good."

Regina bit her lip to suppress the smile that was filling her face. For so long, she had been alone. She didn't know how to be a friend, not really. Maybe Emma could teach her how to be one.

"That sounds great."

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As always, prompts are accepted on my Tumblr accounts: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction!


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